Harry and Cho
by Sarisa
Summary: A scene between Harry and Cho on the Quidditch field. the beginnings of a more serious relationship.
1. Seeker Romance ...

"Well, that's one for me, and none for you," Cho said with a grin as she and Harry returned to the ground.  
  
"Hey, I just woke up. I bet you I'll get the next one," Harry replied with a smile, also followed by a yawn. It was early. Dawn had hit just about half an hour ago, which Harry and Cho had been using to mark the start of their new Quidditch training. It was shaping up to be a clear day, but the morning hour resulted in a heavy mist over the field. The two Seekers had been trying to spend every minute they could together, but with the Quidditch competition so close this year, they both had started taking flak from each of their respective houses about "fraternizing with the enemy". To compensate, the two of them had been meeting just before dawn on the Quidditch field every morning for the past month. Their routine was simple. Cho had used her influence as Ravenclaw team captain to procure a set of Quidditch balls, however, with the two of them both being Seekers, they only really needed one: the Golden Snitch. At dawn, Cho would release the Snitch. They had decided that three minutes was a good enough head start, and would wait on the ground, warming up, and chatting with each other. The first few mornings, they had both zipped away in opposite directions at the start, Harry on his Firebolt, and Cho on her brand new Nimbus Two-Thousand and One. It had been a tough battle. Both of them had the same number of years as Seekers, owing to Harry's placement on the Gryffindor team as a first-year, and Cho's placement on the Ravenclaw team in her second year. Harry had the faster broom of the two, but Cho had a quicker eye. In fact, she had began to realize that she could anticipate the seemingly random patterns and movements of the Snitch. She was able to keep Harry, as well as all of the other Seekers who had played against her, guessing by making random zigs and zags which more often then not ended up with her being placed directly inline with the Snitch. That first morning had resulted in a tie, with Harry catching the first one, and Cho the second. By the time they had finished their second go, they were pushing the time they needed to get to breakfast and then class.  
  
As the first week progressed, and they found their ability to spend time with one another off of the Quidditch field becoming more and more restricted, their early morning practice became their main outlet for being with one another. Instead of zipping off in opposite directions, they began to take off together, and continue talking. It became more of a chance to fly together, up away from the hectic world down below of classes, and the rivalry of the four Houses. Far from being hard training, they began to zip around each other, climbing, diving, doing loops and corkscrews together. Daring the other to go faster, or higher, all the while laughing and smiling at each other. Of course, they continued to look for the Snitch, after all, they couldn't just leave it out here. Madam Hooch would have their heads if they returned an incomplete set. But Snitch finding took a back seat to their enjoyment of each other. It was up in the skies that they talked about themselves; their fears, hopes and dreams. But probably the most healing of their time together was the sharing of their common sorrow: Cedric Diggory.  
  
It was an offhanded comment that Cho made which had started it all. "Ya know, Harry," she said one rainy morning at the end of their first week. "Cedric would have loved to be doing this with us."  
  
Harry felt a lump catch in his throat. Talking about Cedric usually made him tense up, but the fact that Cho mentioned him made things that much trickier. "W-what do you mean?" he stammered out.  
  
"He loved watching you fly. He said he'd never seen anything like the way you flew when you took on the dragon at the Triwizard Tournament. He was never sure why he was made a Seeker for Hufflepuff, he knew he didn't have the right build for it. Always thought he was too slow. And watching you, he dreamed of flying like that. Making those dives you pull off like you'd been doing them since you were born..." Cho's eyes had started to water, as they did when she really thought back about her time with Cedric. "He would have ... I mean ... he wanted ... he really didn't like being forced to compete against you, Harry ..." She turned to look at him, and saw that he was looking down at the grass with a far off stare. Smiling, she finished, "He looked up to you ... wanted to be like you."  
  
"And I killed him ..." he whispered to no one in particular.  
  
Cho's smile turned to bewilderment. "What did you say?" she asked, horrified to hear the answer.  
  
"If it weren't for me, he'd still be here, alive ... with you ..."  
  
Before she knew it, Cho's hand whipped out from her side, and slapped Harry full in the face. "HARRY! NO! You saved Cedric! Voldemort killed him, don't you ever ..."  
  
The slap to the face shook him, but he started at that name. "What did you say?..."  
  
"I said, VOLDEMORT ... KILLED ... CEDRIC! And if you ever start to think that you are in even some small part responsible for his death, I will ... I'll ..." but Cho was at a loss for words. The rage inside of her was starting to fizzle out.  
  
"You said his name," Harry said in an awe filled tone.  
  
"Voldemort, Voldemort, VOLDEMORT! What the hell is he going to do? Apparate right in front of me just because I said his name? See if I care!" Giving her something to focus on, Cho's voice rang to new heights. "And look what he's done to you! He's got you feeling ... guilty ..." she punctuated this by shoving Harry backwards "about ... murdering ... Cedric!" This last shove, combined with the muddy field caused Cho to lose her footing, and slip downwards. Harry brought his arms up to catch her, but being off balance himself, they both tumbled down to the earth. Now (somewhat) wrapped in Harry's arms, Cho's anger dissipated, leaving her sobbing uncontrollably. "Harry ... oh Harry ..." Her sobs continued for several more minutes and the rain continued to fall on them. Not really knowing what to do, Harry tried to comfort her as best as possible, but being pinned to the ground made it difficult. Slowly regaining her composure, Cho looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen, and her face sopping wet with rain and tears. "I guess ... I don't know ... I loved him, Cedric ..." A knot suddenly appeared in Harry's stomach. "... I didn't really know it for a long time, but I could never really decide on how I felt about him. Now, though, I know I loved him ... " The knot began tightening and swelling at the same time. "... but you ... you make the pain inside go away. It's like ... in some way, Cedric is still here, trying to live on in the two people he cared about most. You from far away, and me ... from a bit closer." At this, she sidled up so that she and Harry were face to face. "Harry, I love Cedric, and if I ever hear anything come out of your mouth that does his death injustice, I will personally kick your ass like this again," she said with a smile, and a twinkle in her eye that Harry wasn't sure to be glad for, or afraid of. "Do you understand me?" Cho's voice had dropped the joking undertone and had taken on a seriousness that Harry hadn't seen before. "Promise me, Harry. Promise me that you will never even think that you had any part in Cedric's death. You were a part of his life, and you gave his death a meaning. He will be the rallying cry for all of us who oppose Voldemort, because of you. Promise me that you won't forget these things, Harry ..."  
  
His memory of Cedric's shade came back to him. His words of encouragement flooded back to him. The way he had helped him stave off Voldemort, and saw how Cedric had yelled some rather choice insults that Harry never would have thought him capable of at his enemy. With Cho's words still echoing in his ears, and the vision of Cedric in his mind, Harry felt the guilt that had been lurking in his soul begin to dissolve away. Looking up into Cho's eyes, he met her stare, and said in a clear, strong voice, "I promise."  
  
She beamed down at him as new tears flowed from her eyes. "Thank you." she mouthed. They lie there for another minute or two before she straightened up, and the two of them were now sitting on the ground, covered in rain and mud and tears. "Good. Now that that's settled, I dont' feel guilty about this."  
  
"Guilty about what?" replied Harry. Cho turned to face him full, and the look in her eye was one that Harry could not decipher. He was still trying to decide whether or not he should have known the answer to that before hand when Cho reached out her hand, and brushed away the dark, wet hair that always ended up in his eyes. With her hand resting on the side of Harry's face, she slowly leaned in towards him. As they neared, Harry saw her eyes close, just as their lips met. The knot in Harry's stomach transfigured itself into the largest swarm of butterflies known to man. For the next twenty seconds, Harry had lost all idea of what to do with his body except for his lips, which he had decided needed to stay right where they were for as long as they possibly could. Everything else though, no matter where he tried to put it, seemed to be in the wrong spot. Even his eyebrows seemed to be in an uncomfortable position on his face.   
  
When the kiss had finished, Cho looked at a now fully blushing Harry and said, "That." Cho then started pushing herself up off the ground. "Come on, Harry, if we don't nab that Snitch soon, we'll be here all day. Our usual three minutes was up a long time ago."  
  
Harry had not been able to bring himself to tell anyone about that morning. Ron would have yelled at him for confirming the rumors flying around that something was going on between the Seekers for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and that since the Inter-House Championship was so close this year, anything that might jeopardize Gryffindor's chances were not being tolerated. Hermione, on the other hand, may have taken the news better, but as she had so recently pointed out, she was a girl too, and this was something that Harry definitely did not feel comfortable enough to talk about with another girl. Inevitably, Hermione would have started giggling uncontrollably. An act which Harry had become increasingly convinced should be outlawed amongst girls. And since that one morning, that kiss had remained Harry and Cho's first, and only kiss. On other mornings, Harry would almost think that it would happen again, only to be interrupted by something. First, it was the bell for classes ringing as the two of them had now completely missed breakfast, and were bound to be late for their first class. Then, it had been Cho and Harry constantly planning on what to do about the upcoming Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin match which was now only two days away.  
  
"So, have you had any more ideas on what I can do? I mean, Malfoy's got a Firebolt now. 'Daddy doesn't want me to fall behind'", Cho intoned, mocking the drawl that Malfoy always talked with. "I mean, he can pretty much outrace me at will. I know you can beat him, but you haven't gone full out on that broom of yours since that first day ..."  
  
"W-what are you talking about?" Harry stammered. "You don't think I'm letting you win, do you?"  
  
"Oh, I don't think you're letting me *win*, Harry, but I know what the top speed of a Firebolt is, and you haven't been going anywhere near that while we've been practicing."  
  
Harry blushed. Cho was right of course. He had hoped that she wouldn't have noticed, but since Harry liked more to talk and joke with Cho, rather then race past her, he *had* been keeping his speed up to about that of Cho's Nimbus Two-Thousand and One. However, what he had noticed was that his handling had been growing more and more precise as he tried to match Cho's reflexes and uncanny ability to track the Snitch. Maybe today he'd just go full out and see what happened. "Well ... three minutes is up, you ready?"  
  
Cho responded with a wink, and flew off, her laugh trailing behind her. Grinning, Harry kicked off, and easily overtook her headstart. "I told you so!" she yelled towards him, to which Harry responded by sticking his tongue out at her. Harry really let the throttle out on the Firebolt this morning. It had been a while since he'd let his broom go as fast as it could. Several times, though, his speed ended up getting him in trouble against Cho. Both of them would see the Snitch at about the same time, and Harry would zoom towards it, only to watch as it zigged out of his way, right in the direction that Cho had taken after he had passed her, causing him to make a quick turnaround and make it back just in time to cut her off from nabbing it. After the third time it happened, Harry heard her yell, "I'll get you for that one, Potter!" There was something about the way that Cho used his last name to address him that Harry really liked. It was only while they were flying that she did it. The rest of the time, she always called him Harry.  
  
For the fourth time, Harry caught sight of the Snitch, and sped off towards it. Cho had seen it a second before him, and was in front of him, but that didn't prove to be a problem. He pulled up alongside of her, grinning wildly. He looked over at her, and saw a look of deep concentration on her face. Suddenly, Cho veered directly into Harry, causing him to turn sharply. "What the?!" he called out in surprise. He turned to where Cho was, only to find no Cho; her broom was empty. He turned just in time to see her diving outward, and then falling, her hand outstretched, reaching, grasping, and finally closing around the Snitch. "CHO!" Harry screamed, turning and starting to chase her now falling body. They were about two hundred feet in the air. With any luck, he'd be able to catch her and land without getting them both killed. His eyes on the falling girl, he watched as she reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. Pointing at him, Harry heard her call out, "*Accio!*" A whizzing noise came from behind Harry and he ducked just in time for Cho's Nimbus Two-Thousand and One to fly right over his head. When Harry looked up, he watched in awe as Cho deftly caught the broom with her feet, crooked one leg around it, pulled herself upright, and grabbed the handle with her wand hand, and pulled out of her frightening free fall.  
  
As Harry pulled up next to her, he began to shout, "ARE YOU CRAZY?!?"   
  
She responded with a look that shone with exhiliration. "It worked! I can't believe it actually worked! Did you see that? I've never felt anything like that in my life!"  
  
The two of them came to a halt on the ground. "You could have been killed, Cho!" Harry was outraged. His fear of watching Cho fall to her death while he watched brought out an anger he'd never felt before.  
  
She turned on him, flushed face beaming. "Oh, but you would have saved me, Harry." She giggled, reaching out with both of her arms, grabbing him around the neck, and giving him a big smacking kiss right on the lips. "I did it! I can beat Malfoy! And you helped me do it! Oh, I can't wait for the match!" She hurriedly turned towards the open box of Quidditch balls, and began securing the Snitch.  
  
Harry was still standing in place, befuddled. After a kiss like that, he found he'd lost the ability to be angry. After a kiss like that, he found that he'd also lost the ability to put together a coherent thought. Cho finally turned to see him still standing there gawking, grabbed his hand, and began dragging him towards the main hall. "Come on! If I'm late for Herbology one more time, I'm gonna get detention..."  
  
***  
Characters and setting copyright J.K. Rowling.   
A/N I'm still working on getting the format of this to look right. In case you're wondering, there's more to come, and it's already in progress. 


	2. Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin - Harry

"What are you doing with your omnioculars, Harry?" Ron questioned Harry as he, and Hermione sat down on either side of Harry.  
  
"It's a Quidditch match, Ron. What do you think I'm doing with them?" Harry responded.  
  
"Harry, it's Ravenclaw versus Slytherin, it's not like the players fly high enough that you need your omnioculars to see them. Unless ..." Hermione's voice trailed off and she fixed Harry with an extremely inquisitive look.  
  
Harry returned her look for a moment or two. "What?" he asked. Hermione continued to stare at him. Harry gave her another, more exasperated, "What?" and suddenly found himself not only blushing, but having to fight off the silly grin that was slowly forming on his face. Harry looked away, and started inspecting the empty pitch as more Gryffindors settled in around them. His battle against the grin was not going well, and he noticed himself getting giddy. Cho would be walking out onto the field any minute now.  
  
Finally, Hermione scoffed at him, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Hmph. I can't believe you. Honestly ..."  
  
Now grinning like and idiot, and fighting down *giggles* of all things, Harry gave another "What?!"  
  
Ron looked from Harry to Hermione, back to Harry, and then back once more to Hermione. "What's going on? Am I missing something here?"  
  
"If you don't know, I'm not telling you, Ron," Hermione commented in her best teacher voice as she continued to look out onto the field with feigned interest, and trying to ignore Harry sitting next to her.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Ron muttered, "Girls ..."  
  
Harry started to lose it. He felt the blush in full bloom in his face, and a few giggles started to escape. He brought his omnioculars up to his eyes, to try and keep himself from cracking up, but before long, his body gave up the struggle, and he started laughing uncontrollably. Keeping a firm grim on his omnioculars so as to not lose them, he eventually fell onto his knees, drawing the stares of several rows of seats around them. Ron started blushing as everyone's attention was starting to be on the scene unfolding before him. Hermione was still sitting there, arms crossed, and ignoring the hysterical boy next to her. Ron put his arms out to try and pull Harry back into his seat. "Harry ..." he whispered fiercely to him. "Harry, come on. What's up with you today?" As Ron pulled him back into the seat, Harry's fit seemed to be subsiding and everyone turned back to their own conversations. One glance over at the still pouting Hermione, however, brought it all back on, and Harry collapsed into more gales of laughter.  
  
It was the amplified voice of Lee Jordan that finally brought Harry back to some semblence of normalcy. "Testing, testing. Are we on? Alright. Welcome to our third Quidditch match of the year! The Inter-House Quidditch Tournament is the closest it's been in over fifty years! Coming on to the field now, currently in second place behind the Gryffindors, Slytherin!" Harry regained his composure, and stood up with his friends to join in the booing and hissing of their most heated rivals. Jordan recited the teams roster, ending with a Ludo Bagmanesque finish, ".. Aaaaaand MALFOY!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione yelled loudest at the name of their own personal nemesis.  
  
Soon after the boos had died down, Harry quickly put his omnioculars up to his eyes, and focused in on the team now walking onto the field. "Now walking onto the field, currently in third place behind Slytherin by only twenty point, RAVENCLAW!" All around Harry, cheers erupted. Harry himself was trying to not drop his omnioculars while jumping up and down and screaming like a maniac. Jordan read off the list of Ravenclaw players with a little bit more emphasis then the Slytherins, and ending with "... Aaaaand CHANG!" There she was, walking calmly onto the field, with her game face on. Zooming in, Harry saw that Cho was staring hard at Malfoy, as if all that mattered in this match was the competition between the two Seekers.   
  
"Harry? What are you ..." Ron followed the direction that the omnioculars were pointing. Looking over to Hermione, he got a definitive nod from her. "Harry!" he yelled. "So it's true! There *is* something going on with you and Cho!"  
  
"Shut up, Ron! The match is about to start," Ron gave a disapproving grunt, and turned back to watch the take-off.  
  
"And there's the whistle. And there goes Malfoy, first into the air, and look at him go. Of course, that Firebolt of his does help. Kauth makes a good move there to take first posession, and immediately passes to Farrell. These two third-years have been an absolute terror all season. Farrell goes wide, looks like he's gonna take a long shot, wait, he makes a great cross-field pass back to Kauth, he shoots, SCORES! Slytherin up ten. Spofford is gonna have to keep his eyes open a bit better if he's gonna stop these two. Valero heads up the field on a breakaway. Look at her go! Caught the entire Slytherin team napping as she heads for the goalposts. What a move! Martin's way out of position, looks like she's got a clear ... OW! ... That had to hurt. Wait, she still gets the shot off, it's good! Valero took a bludger shot dead on, and still makes the play!" Harry pulled his omnioculars off of Cho, and looked out at Amelia Valero. Even though she was still on her broom, Harry saw how she was holding her right arm, which much have taken the brunt of the bludger shot. This was bad news. Amelia was the best Chaser Ravenclaw had. If she was put off her game this early, Ravenclaw could be in serious trouble.   
  
Harry found Cho in the sky just in time to see her sprinting out after Malfoy, who looked like he'd seen the Snitch. Malfoy, however, wasn't half the flier Cho was, and she was able to outmaneuver him just as she did during hers and Harry's practices. Her aim, however, seemed to be cutting off Malfoy, and distracting him long enough to lose sight of the Snitch, rather then going for it herself. Harry knew that she'd have to make a quick catch if Ravenclaw was going to pull this off, but it looked like Cho wasn't aware of the situation with Valero. It was only a few more minutes into the game when the scoreboard read Slytherin: 80, Ravenclaw: 20. Harry stomped his foot in frustration as he watched Cho toying with Malfoy, high above the action. "What is she doing?!" he said out loud.  
  
"You know, Harry, the game of Quidditch isn't *just* about the Seeker. You should try and watch the Chasers every now and then. Or maybe the beaters. They've got a difficult job, too." Hermione recited, as if she was talking to a child.  
  
"Yeah, Harry. This game's gonna be won by the Chasers. Do you really think Cho can beat Malfoy on that Firebolt of his? She can't keep up with him. This game would already be over if it weren't for the fact that Malfoy can't turn to save his life. See, there they go again." True enough, Malfoy had sped off to try for the Snitch. Once again, he couldn't react fast enough to the zig-zagging Snitch, and ran into Cho cutting him off. "It's only a matter of time before Malfoy accidentally catches the Snitch up his nose, and the game ends. Which will put Slytherin way in the lead. Jeez, between Slytherin pounding Ravenclaw, and finding out that our Seeker has gone all googly eyed over the enemy, it's shaping up to be a really bad day." Ron settled back down in his seat, and sulked.  
  
Ravenclaw was now down forty to one hundred and fifty. Soon, the game would become a moot point. Harry was wishing for some way to just yell at Cho and tell her to stop playing around. Through his omnioculars, Harry could see that at least she was getting to Malfoy. The sneer on his face was almost frightening, especially with the zoom features that the omnioculars provided. Harry once again found Cho, who was nearby apparently exchanging insults with Malfoy in midair. Then suddenly, without any warning at all, she broke off in midsentence, and raced upwards, and across the field. Malfoy, momentarily stunned, gave chase a second or two afterwards. Lee Jordan's voice suddenly rang out with new energy, "There goes Chang! It looks like she got the drop on Malfoy, and has the Snitch in sight." Harry had seen her do this before, and he felt the butterflies in his stomach start fluttering around. Even Hermione and Ron stood up with him to watch what was going on. Cho was going full out on her Nimbus Two-Thousand and One, but Malfoy was gaining on her quickly. Harry noticed that she was carefully looking back, and keeping an eye on how close he was. Malfoy, however, was focused on the Snitch.   
  
Harry felt himself getting nervous, but at least had the presence of mind to hit the "Record" switch on his omnioculars. "Come on, Cho ..." he whispered. Malfoy was catching up, and Harry could make out the angry look on his face as he began pulling up alongside Cho. The intense look of concentration on Cho's face remained until he was neck and neck with her. Harry watched as a sinister smile spread across her lips, and watched them mouth the words, *Eat this, Malfoy!* Doing so, she jerked her Nimbus Two Thousand and One directly into Malfoy, who careened off course, and was nearly knocked off his broom, and he was so surprised, he stopped in midair. Cho had leapt ontop of her broomstick, and launched herself into midair, and Harry noticed that the Snitch had zipped backwards, just as she collided with Malfoy.   
  
Gasps and screams of alarm went up from the crowd as they saw Cho dive off of her broom. "Chang is out of her mind! She's two hundred feet in the air without a broom! What is she ... wait! She's got it!! Chang's got the Snitch! But how's she ... Wait, her wand is out, and she's pointing back towards Malfoy, who ... MALFOY IS HOLDING BACK HER BROOM!!"  
  
***  
Characters and Setting copyright J.K. Rowling  
  
A/N: Here is the second part of this. I left it at a cliffhanger for a specific reason because the next part is going to be the scene in the air from Cho's perspective, and will explain how she gets out of it. I love Cho, she's one of my favorite characters. She doesn't die. I just wanted a good place to switch perspectives. I do have one question for anyone who likes this mini-series. The next piece is going to involve Cho and Malfoy talking smack to one another. Would people rather read trash talking with contemporary swearing, or would you rather I try and make up slang and such for a more wizarding type style? Please review/comment and let me know. Also feel free to email me, there should be a link for that around here somewhere. ^_^ 


End file.
